African Rodent Ecology and Evolution: Past, Present, and Future
Africa is a region well known for its high rodent diversity and endemism, with nearly every
ecological, behavioral, and locomotory adaptation represented on a single continent. Given
these factors, African rodents lend themselves as a model for studies related to ecology and
evolution. This significance has be demonstrated in two recent compendia, Mammals of
Africa and Rodents of Sub-Saharan Africa, which have synthesized relevant literature for
this Order and have highlighted gaps in our knowledge. Despite the publication of such
landmark works, emerging technologies, including next-generation sequencing, geometric
morphometrics, and advanced biotelemetry continue to shed light on the evolution and
ecology of this diverse mammalian lineage. This symposium will use these two literature
sources as a launching point for addressing past, present, and future research on African
rodents. Talks will include a variety of topics with the central theme of addressing how our
knowledge of African rodent ecology and evolution has changed through time, with
particular emphasis on how emerging technologies continue to shape our understanding of
these enigmatic mammals. Potential topics include:
 The historical and current understanding of species distribution, diversity and
evolutionary relationships, highlighting taxonomic groups of interest for future
studies.
 Broad scale biogeographic patterns identified through the use of genetic markers.
 Morphological adaptation
 Behavioral ecology
Symposium organizers:
Josef Bryja (Institute of Vertebrate Biology ASCR, Czech Republic)
Molly McDonough (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA)